The Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry, in a statement, said Japan
will henceforth be among countries that face some limitations when
importing strategic materials from South Korea.

The ministry said a public opinion survey conducted between Aug. 14
and Sept. 3 showed that 91 percent of respondents found revocation to be
reasonable.

“The government will make sure that South Korean companies would
experience as minimal impact as possible from the revocation,” it said
while vowing full support from the government, especially in cases where
small and medium-sized companies experience difficulties.

Japan, on Aug. 28, removed South Korea from its list of trusted trade
partners that enjoy minimum trade restrictions on goods such as
electronic components that can be diverted for military use.

It took that move after implementing tighter controls on exports of
some materials needed by South Korean manufacturers of semiconductors
and display panels, including Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.,
in July.

Seoul has condemned the measures as “economic retaliation” for South
Korean court rulings last year that ordered Japanese firms to compensate
people claiming they were forced to work in Japanese factories during
Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Japan maintains the issue of compensation was settled “finally and
completely” by a 1965 bilateral agreement under which it provided South
Korea with $500 million in financial aid.

Relations between the two countries have sunk to new lows recently amid history, trade and territorial disputes.